Chidi Samuel|
Wole Soyinka, a Nobel laureate and social critic on Monday said that the fight against corruption would not be won until some past leaders are jailed.
Soyinka who made the comment while speaking the 8th Commonwealth Regional Conference for Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Abuja recalled asking the the EFCC chairman Ibrahim Magu to show him the Presidential wing during a recent visit to the new EfCC headquarters, stated that until our leaders are made to pass through the doors of EFCC’s new office, the war on corruption will remain a mirage.
Soyinka said, “Until we make sure some of our leaders pass through the jail doors of the new EFCC headquarters, the fight against corruption will not be won.”
Speaking earlier while declaring the conference open, President Muhammadu Buhari said it was heartwarming to note that there is a renewed and collective effort on overcoming legal hurdles in asset recovery and return.
The President promised that the $320 million Sani Abacha loot will be put into the conditional cash transfer (CCT) scheme targeted at the “poorest of Nigerians”.
President Buhari said, “It is heartwarming to note that there is evidence of a renewed commitment to collectively identify the most effective ways to overcoming legal hurdles to asset recovery and return.”
“The Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) in December 2017 is one good example. This is the latest efforts in facilitating asset recovery and return. The meeting brought together government from four countries from which resources have been stolen, namely Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and Ukraine and those from other countries that tend to be the destinations for these looted resources to coordinate efforts aimed at identifying those resources and ensuring successful repatriation.
“The GFAR saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Nigeria and the Government of Switzerland for the return of an additional $320m of the Sani Abacha loot.
“Included in that agreement is the commitment that the funds would be invested in one of Nigeria’s flagship social investment programmes, the Conditional Cash Transfer scheme targeted at the poorest and most vulnerable households in our country.